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Little People

Tsuyu

Tsuyu

is wearing Queen's lace panties.
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Random semi-drunken thought of the day:

Just me, or does the term "little people" sound a lot more derogatory and, moreso, condescending than the term "dwarf" or "midget"?
 
Dunno. My mom's friend who I saw last night, my mom just refers to her as "the short one."

Technically speaking, I'd just avoid saying anything in that area.
 
I just go with the classic "midget." I never considered one term to be more offensive than another.
 
Not as bad as when my mum was trying to guess the only three words in the english language which start with "dw". She got the first two, and was struggling with the last one. When she got it, she shouted "Dwarf!" loudly, and there happened to be one nearby. Hilarious stuff.
 
Well, any self-respecting person wouldn't mind too much what somebody called them, if it was clear that that person wasn't trying to be rude. Though, I've never thought about how to call them, since I've never really had to.

Anyway, if the person had a sense of humor, I would call them a hobbit.
 
Dwarf sounds least offensive to me... midget sounds kind of derogatory.

Although the best would be, 'Vertically Troubled'.
 
HobbeBrain said:
Dwarf sounds least offensive to me... midget sounds kind of derogatory.

Although the best would be, 'Vertically Troubled'.
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No, it should be 'challenged in vertical growth'. 'Vertically troubled' would mean they have trouble with their height, but that doesn't have to be the case, right? 'challenged in vertical growth' objectively states what' happening, since they don't grow as much in the vertical direction.

Hm, you could also say 'hobbe-ism'.
 
My friend -who was born premature- pretty much has borderline dwarfism(Or atleast that's what we like to tell people; she is self-conscious about her height - we're good friends). Even so, she requests we call her 'The Small One'. We also call her 'The WMD' because when she's around - things break.

D3m190d said:
Anyway, if the person had a sense of humor, I would call them a hobbit.
Click to expand...
I'm taller than my older brother. Before anyone asks-I'm 5'6, my brother was also born premature and had trouble in the womb(weighed less than a bag of sugar). Anyway, I call him a hobbit. He's small and he has extremely hairy feet - makes sense.

For people who actually have dwarfism, I hear they prefer to be referred to as little people and they find being called midget or dwarf highly derogatory. I blame Disney.
 
I just use the term Dwarf, then again I haven't been acquainted with any of them personally so I wouldn't know what they would perceive as offensive. Like I said I just use the word Dwarf, it's the most straightforward term and it doesn't seem as insulting as midget.
 
We had one kid in school we called Pepper Pot - he didn't speak any english so presumably he didn't mind. Also kind of handy when he misbehaved in line because all we had to do as prefects was pick him up like a doll and put him somewhere high. Insulting? Us? Nah...

I wouldn't know what the correct term is - I suppose it would depend on the person in question. If they were someone close to me, I'd go for Oompa Loompa, naturally, or just plain old shortarse. Otherwise, unless they specifically required having their height referred to, I'd just ignore it as much as possible in conversation to avoid having to ask.
 
Dwarf is the medical term for the symptom I believe. Also, fantasy dwarves are awesome:

I think dwarf is a pretty cool guy, eh drinks beer and doesn't afraid anything.

Little people though? It just sounds so demeaning and cruel. It sound so cutesy in a way, like you're painting them out to be children or something.
 
We all know they are not real people, why worry?
 
D3m190d said:
No, it should be 'challenged in vertical growth'. 'Vertically troubled' would mean they have trouble with their height, but that doesn't have to be the case, right? 'challenged in vertical growth' objectively states what' happening, since they don't grow as much in the vertical direction.

Hm, you could also say 'hobbe-ism'.
Click to expand...

But... I ain't short tho.
 
Tsuyu said:
Dwarf is the medical term for the symptom I believe. Also, fantasy dwarves are awesome:

I think dwarf is a pretty cool guy, eh drinks beer and doesn't afraid anything.

Little people though? It just sounds so demeaning and cruel. It sound so cutesy in a way, like you're painting them out to be children or something.
Click to expand...

Yeah Dwarves are my favorite fantasy race, another reason I probably use the term 'dwarf.'

If I did have the condition, I'd probably encourage others to call me a dwarf. As for being called a 'little person,' your right it does sound cruel and demeaning in my opinion. I'd probably find that more insulting, it sounds like they're being labeled as weak or something. Almost as if they are underestimated, pretty patronizing really. :/
 
yes, little people sounds more condescending.
they just hate having attention drawn to their short height period.
i'm pretty sure that in the sentence
"Oh, you shouldn't say X. Say Y."
the value Y will always sound like a better option.

just some examples...
"Oh, you shouldn't say midgets. Say 'little people'"
"Oh, you shouldn't say mongoloid. Say 'mentally disabled'"
"Oh, you shouldn't say redneck. Say 'racist, alcoholic, trailer-trash with a warped sense of the 1860's in United States history'"

in related news... does anyone else think that the word panties is a bit condescending?
 
Yeah... not really. What word would you use to replace it, anyway?
 
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